Expansion number 16 for
style="font-style: italic;"> EverQuest,
href="http://eqplayers.station.sony.com/news_article.vm?id=51633&month=current"
target="_blank">Underfoot,
moves ever closer to release . Over the past few weeks our friends at
SOE have
been releasing sneak peaks at the content and what players are in store
for when it goes live. Today we explore the next chapter in the
Unfolding the Lore
series,
href="http://eqplayers.station.sony.com/news_article.vm?id=51664"
target="_blank"> The Foundation:

color="maroon">The Foundation

The
Foundation is where mountains are "born." In the early days, Brell
created stone giants known as the Genari and charged them with raising
mountains all over the multiverse. But his personal interest in this
form of sometimes destructive creation waned, and now the Genari do
their endless, tireless work with little help from their creator... not
that they complain.

The
Cavern of Clay, a cave located off of
the Foundation, is one of the deepest locations of the Underfoot. It is
here that the Clay of Cosgrove is found. It wells up from the ground
and is scooped out by workers to be used as needed by Brell himself.
The clay was meant to be taken on a cycle, but has been over-mined and
is beginning to run low. It is not only the minions of Brell that are
taking the clay; the Cliknar have dug a tunnel into the rear of the
Cavern of Clay and have been taking the clay for themselves as well.

The
Clay of Cosgrove was in the Underfoot even before Brell. It is the only
material in this realm that is not his of his making. It is the clay of
creation and defies all powers of the gods other than in its use as a
device for creation.

The
walls and ceiling of the Foundation are
covered by a variety of phosphorescent fungus in varying colors,
creating a bright environment that almost seems to be open air. Within
this environment the servitors of Brell grow food similar to what might
be found in Norrath, as the bioluminescence creates enough light to
grow by.

Recently
the drive to raise mountains has been greatly
diminished, so others of Brell's realm have taken to using the area at
the Genari's feet for their own needs. Farms sprang up to feed the
local populace.

A
heavy population of insects, known as Cliknar,
can be found in the area. They feed the fungus and other creatures as
well as pollinate the plants. They were originally used as farm workers
and helped supply the residents with food.

Over
time, the
Cliknar lost much of their ability to grow their food and have taken to
hoarding more and more for themselves instead, making for lean times
among the other residents of the Underfoot.

The
area between the
Genari and the clay staging area looks like a rather organized series
of farmsteads where fungus and other odd plants are grown on hard,
unyielding ground. Rarely, the farmers will head into this area to
gather wild resources. Even more rare is the arrival of a new Genari.

The
Genari

The
Genari are titan-sized giants that were created by Brell Serilis to
hold up and cause movement within the mountains of the worlds. There is
no leadership amongst the Genari, as they are merely servitors of
Brell. Each Genari stands on a different piece of the Underfoot, called
a foundation, representing a mountain range one of any number of worlds.

When
Ro raised the Serpent's Spine Mountains on Norrath, he created many
problems for the Genari, and several were crushed under the additional
weight. Brell created more Genari to carry the load, but many of the
dead Genari have been kept in place, their unmoving stone corpses
acting as support columns. As the Serpent's Spine compresses over time,
its weight continues to crush the supporting Genari, which will need to
be removed and replaced with more flexible living
style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">

Once again SOE has been kind
enough to grace Ten Ton Hammer with three additional exclusive screens
that you won't find anywhere else:
style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">